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on Cloud Systems Research Article

Video Steganography using MATLAB

Paramesh.G1,*, Pavithra.K.V2 , Ranjitha.N3, Swetha.S4 and T.Anushalalitha5

1
Alumni.Dept.of TCE,BMSCE
2
Alumni.Dept.of TCE,BMSCE
3
Alumni.Dept.of TCE,BMSCE
4
Alumni.Dept.of TCE,BMSCE
5
Assistant Professor, BMS college of Engineering,Bangalore-19

Abstract

This paper discusses a Video Steganographic scheme that can provide approvable security with high computing speed, by
embedding data in video frames. The technique of embedding data in a video file by using LSB before which the secret
information is encrypted using symmetric XOR operation, thereby providing two layers of security. Data Hiding and
Extraction procedure are experimented successfully. All experiments are done using Matlab 2010a simulation software.
This method proves to be more efficient than other methods with the amount of data that can be embedded in it, showing a
PSNR of above 30 dB.

Keywords: video steganography; LSB substitution

Received on 14 October 2017, accepted on 26 November 2017, published on 20 December 2017

Copyright © 2017 Paramesh.G et al., licensed to EAI. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unlimited use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium so long as the original work is properly cited.

doi: 10.4108/eai.20-12-2017.153493

1. Introduction

Video Steganography is a technique to hide any kind of

files in any extension into a carrying video file. An input
content such as video is encoded to hide plural-bit
auxiliary data therein. The process generates an
intermediate signal that is a function of the plural bit
auxiliary data and data related to human perception
attributes of the content signal. This intermediate signal is
then summed with the content signal to effect encoding.
The encoding is desirably robust against various forms of
content degradation such as lossy
compression/decompression, scaling, re-sampling, analog
to digital conversion and back again etc., so that auxiliary
data can be detected back from the content not
withstanding such corruption.
Figure 1. Basic Model of Steganography

*
Corresponding author. Email:[email protected]

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Paramesh.G et al.

embedded in I frame, and in P frames, and B frames, the

data are repeatedly embedded in motion vectors of macro-
blocks, for the purpose of resisting video processing.
Because digital video consists of series of frames and
greater signal space, video steganography will get large
capacity compared to image.
Video Steganography can be done in several ways
2. Video Steganography based on the following.

Message is the data that the sender wishes to remain it i. Non-uniform rectangular partition
confidential. It can be plain text, cipher text, other image, ii. Tri-way Pixel value Differencing
or anything that can be embedded in a bit stream such as a
copyright mark, a covert communication, or a serial iii. Adaptive scheme for compressed video
number. Password is known as stego-key, which ensures steganography
that only recipient who knows the corresponding decoding iv. LSB substitution using differential polynomial
key will be able to extract the message from a cover- equations
object. The cover-object with the secretly embedded
message is then called the stego-object. v. Vector quantization of DCT

Yadav.P.et.al[1] proposed a technique in which each vi. Integer Wavelet Transform

frame of secret video is broken down into individual vii. Dynamic cover generation
components, then converted into 8 binary values, and
encrypted using XOR with secret key, encrypted keys will
be hidden in the LSB of each frames using sequential B. Methodology
encoding of cover video. Balaji.R et.al [2] created an
index for the secret information, placed in the frame of the The methodology used is Least significant bit (LSB)
for video steganography, bits of the message are directly
video. Mozo,A.J.et.al. [3] got promising results for the
embedded into LSB plane of the cover image, in a
uncompressed FLV embedded with data and
deterministic sequence. Modulating the LSB does not lead
uncompromised integrity of hidden data when modified to human perceptible difference, as th change in amplitude
FLVs were transferred through internet. is small.
Kelash.H.M.et.al[4] proposed an algorithm based on color
histograms for embedding data into video clips directly.

1.2 Problem Definition

The aim of this paper is to arrive at a method for
embedding information into video files without affecting
its original perception and also not giving any hint to the
intruder.
The objectives are three fold.
i. Hiding the secret information in an AVI
video file format
ii. Encryption to increase security
iii. Decryption and message recovery. Figure 2.Block Diagram
A. Steganography Vs Cryptography
In Cryptography, the structure of a message is The text message is the secret data which is to be
scrambled to make it meaningless and unintelligible unless encrypted and hidden inside the video. Befor hiding
the decryption key is available. Steganography, in contrast, the information, it is encrypted using symmetric
hides the secret message inside a cover image, so it cannot encryption. Stego video is the video obtained after
be seen. putting back the embedded frame in a video using
It is possible to combine the techniques by encrypting LSB substitution technique
message using cryptography and then hiding the encrypted
message using steganography.
A steganographic algorithm for compressed video is
introduced in this paper. In a GOP, control information is

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 Video Steganography using MATLAB

2.1. LSB SUBSTITUTION TECHNIQUE

This is the simplest of approaches. The binary

representation of the hidden data is taken and used to
overwrite the LSB of each byte within the cover image. If
a 24-bit color is used, the amount of change will be Figure 4. Original color intensity
minimal and indiscernible to the human eye. The above figure shows the color intensity in the specified
The following example illustrates the method. position, which are as follows:

There are three adjacent pixels`(nine bytes) with the Red-244

following RGB encoding: Green-6
Blue-60As the following order RGBBGRRG is used, red
channel is used initially. The pixel value is then converted
into corresponding binary value.

Figure 3 .A sample raster data for three pixels

If the9 bits of data 100000001 are to be hidden, these 9

bits are overlayed over the LSB of the 9 bytes above.
RGB Images
Three colors RGB of intensity varying from fully OFF Figure 5. Altered color intensity
to fully ON form the color component. Zero intensity of
each component gives the darkest color and full intensity
gives white. When the intensities of all components are
same, it forms grey, darker or lighter depending upon the
intensity. When the intensities are different, the result is a
colorized hue, more or less saturated depending on the
difference of the strongest and the weakest of the
intensities of the primary colors employed.
The algorithm here is a combination of cryptography
and steganography, but in a robust way as to reinforce
each other. The subjects of the algorithm are text
information and video, where the text is encrypted and
embedded into the video.

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iv. Here, the symmetric XOR operation is done

for the encryption of the text information.
The 8-bit key can take any value fron 0-255
for the encryption.
v. The encrypted data bits are replaced in the
LSB of each channel pixel value of the
selected frame using a RGBBGRRG order.
It is done fron left to right through the target
image.
vi. This process is repeated for all the data
points.
vii. The text embedded frame is replaced back
into the original raw video.This regenerated
video is called StegoVideo.This finished file
is dubbed as an AVI video file.
B. Decoding
i. At the receiver end, the stegovideo looks like the
ususal video.
ii. The receiver will have the knowledge of the
frame and encryption key used in the encoding,
only if he is the authorized person.
iii. Thus, the encrypted data is obtained by
performing the reverse of the LSB operation.
iv. Since it is the symmetric encryption, by using the
same key, XOR operation is done to retrieve the
original secret information.
v. To achieve this, the sender and the receiver must
have obtained copies of the secret key in a secure
Figure 6. Flow chart for Encoding
fashion and must keep the key secure.

The above figure shows the 1 LSB bit manipulation of

the pixel value. After replacing the LSB bit, the intensity
of the color will not change to a greater extent.
Since only one bit manipulation is achieved, there will
not be much variations in the intensity of the frame, so that
intruder will not be in a position to make out that the frame
is modified. Encryption is performed before hiding the
secret information which ensures two layers of security.
Hence the attacker would be forced to believe that the file
is a AVI video file. But for the intended recipient who
receives the file shall have the knowledge of decoding the
information by which he will be able to decrypt it
faithfully.
A. Encoding

i. The raw video in which the text has to be

embedded is read, thereby separating the
frames from the video.
Figure 7. Flow chart for Decoding
ii. The user defined frame is selected which
should be within the range of the video.
iii. The text is taken and encrypted using
encryption key.

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 Video Steganography using MATLAB

C. Software used differentiate between the cover image and the stegoimage
progressively. A
 A very large (and growing) database of built-in
PSNR value of less than 30 dB would indicate a human
algorithms for image processing and computer
vision applications. ability to notice the quality degradation.
By using the above equations and getting the
 MATLAB allows you to test algorithms number of pixels at each level from the histogram of the
immediately without recompilation. You cantype cover and stegoimage as shown , we have
something at the command line or execute a
section in the editor and immediately see the
results, greatly facilitating algorithm
development. As we see the PSNR value is greater than 30 db
which indicate that human visual system cannot
 The MATLAB Desktop environment, which differentiate between cover image and stegoimage.
allows you to work interactively with your data,
helps you to keep track of files and variables, and
simplifies common programming/debugging
tasks. The ability to read in a wide variety of both
common and domain-specific image formats.
 The ability to call external libraries, such as
OpenCV. Clearly written documentation with
many examples, as well as online resources such
as web seminars ("webinars").
 The ability to auto-generate C code, using
MATLAB Coder, for a large (and growing)
subset of image processing and mathematical
functions, which you could then use in other
environments, such as embedded systems or as a
component in other software. Figure. 8 Input Video

STEPS:
A. Performance Analysis
 The input is an AVI (AUDIO VIDEO
These automated quality assessment techniques are INTERLEAVE) format
based on mathematical and computational algorithms to  The duration of the video is 10 secs.
measure the accuracy of the perceived image. Most of the
recent objective quality assessment techniques are based
on computing the quality of the image with the original
image. Here we compare the accuracy of the cover image
with the stegoimage using two techniques,ie.,Mean Square
Error(MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR).

Where M and N are the rows and columns of the

cover image respectively, C and S are the cover and
stegoimage respectively.

Figure. 9 Input Message

Where R is the dynamic range of pixel  The input is in the “.txt format”
values(R=255 for gray scale images).PSNR gives the  The input message can be alphabet, number and
value infinity under one condition only; that is when the special character.
cover image is compared to itself.
Otherwise if the PSNR result is greater than 30 dB ,
then the human visual system would not be able to

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Figure. 12 Stego Video

Figure. 10 Selecting Text file The text selected is embedded in the specified frame .
Steps to start the encoding process

 Select the frame from the video. is saved in a folder.

display invalid frame number.

(.*txt file format) to be
embedded in the frame.

Figure. 13 Recovering Text

Figure. 11 Encryption Key

Symmentric encryption is used.

decryption.
 Enter the encryption key in the range 0-255.
 The text is encrypted using the key.
Steps to start decoding process:
 Stegovideo is choosen.
 The text is extracted and decrypted from the frame using the key.
 Same frame number must be entered as used in encryption process.
 Also decryption key must be same as encryption key.
 We must give the name of the folder where result will be store as “.txt” format.
 The recovered text is saved in the specified folder.

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 Video Steganography using MATLAB

References

[1] Yadav, P.; Mishra, N.; Sharma, S., "A secure video
steganography
with encryption based on LSB technique," Computational
Intelligence and Computing Research (ICCIC), 2013
IEEE International Conference on , vol., no., pp.1,5, 26-
28 Dec. 2013.
[2] Balaji, R. “Secure data transmission using video
Figure. 14 Recovered text file is saved as,”.txt”in a Steganography” IEEE International Conference on
specified folder Electro/Information Technology (EIT), 2011, pp. 1 – 5.
[3]Cryptography and Network security-Principles and
CONCLUSION
Practice: William Stallings, ThirdEdition. Fundamentals
With the growth in digital media, data security has of image processing by Rafeal C. Gonzalez and Richard
become a major concern. Mere steganography is not a E. Woods,second edition. Pearson edition inc.
good solution to secrecy nor is mere encryption but a [4]Mozo AJ., and Obien M.E., C.J. Rigor, “Video
combination of both provide a powerful tool which Steganography using Flash Video (FLV)” I2MTC 2009 -
enables people to communicate without possible International Instrumentation and Measurement
eavesdroppers even knowing there is a form of Technology Conference Singapore, 5-7 May 2009.
communication in the first place.
In this project we have presented two levels of [5]Kelash, H.M., Abdel Wahab, O.F., Elshakankiry, O.A.,
security for communicating secret information. Video and El-sayed, H.S., Hiding data in video sequences using
steganography proves to be more efficient than other steganography algorithms, in Proceedings of International
steganographic methods with the amount of data that can Conference on CT Convergence (ICTC), 2013, DOI-
be embedded in it. The text is encrypted prior embedding 10.1109/ICTC.2013.6675372, pp:353-358.
in the video thus increasing the security of information.
Since the text is embedded by modifying only the least
significant bit, no much change in the intensity of the
image is noticeable. The calculated PSNR obtained above
30 dB verifies this.
For an intruder to steganalyse and decrypt the
information he/she must have the knowledge of various
parameters, which include the frame in which the
information or data is hidden and the encryption key.
The future work mainly focuses on audio-video
steganography with chaotic algorithm and reversible data
hiding mechanism. Through reversible data hiding
method the exact image and data can be retrieved along
with the cover video and audio. The audio and video
quality can also be preserved. The reversible data hiding
method is mainly based on interpolation and error
prediction mechanism.

Acknowledgments

The work reported in this paper is supported by the

college through the TECHNICAL EDUCATION
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME [TEQIP-II]
of the MHRD, Government of India.

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